


Prototype Zero

by Jane_Oddbody



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Abandonment, Family Feels, Feels, Horror, Loneliness, Sadness, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-05-07 11:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane_Oddbody/pseuds/Jane_Oddbody
Summary: It is 1896 and the War with Becile and his copper elephants is looming on the horizon.  Peter A. Walter I is busy building his army of robots to fight the war.  He is using every last resource he has at his disposal to build the robot army he needs, even previously scrapped prototypes.  He has completed another robot for the war that he has named Prototype Zero.  Col Walter knows that this robot will be formidable even if it is only a drone not capable of conscious thought...just don't tell Prototype Zero that.





	1. A Prototype Named Zero

*Click* *Whirrrr*… It could feel something was different. It felt more…here? Cold metal began to warm as Its boiler heated up and started to bubble. It had always had sort of a sense of itself when It was just pieces of inert metal, but now It was more “here”. Where had It been? Where was It now? Slowly oil and hydraulic fluid started to pump through tubing as steam started to drift out of vents. It could feel itself now as somehow being “more”. It existed, It was…alive? The blue matter core in Its chest hummed steadily as the new automaton came into being. 

It slowly opened the shutters on its photoreceptors. There was light and sounds and blobs of color. One big white blob was moving all around. It seemed as though it was in a hurry. Things slowly came into focus as Its photoreceptors adjusted. It looked down and saw It was sitting on some sort of table. It tried to take in Its bearings to try to determine where It was and what It was. It could sense “others” nearby, others like itself. It could feel them. It raised Its head back up and looked around the room for the others but It only saw scraps of metal, tools, more tables, and large crates stacked in a corner*. It wanted so much to be near the others, but they were not here. It felt…sad?

The big white blob that had been moving around focused into a shape. It was…a man. Yes, man. It was not like this “man”. It could sense Itself was different from “man”. The man continued to move around the room. The man would pick up pieces of metal and move them to other tables. Occasionally he would shake his head and move a piece he had just laid on a table to a different table. “Not enough…I’m going to need more,” the man said. 

The man had not noticed It. It very much wanted the man to notice It. The man seemed very important to It. It opened its mouth to try to speak to the man. All that came out was a low garbled sound. This frustrated It. It wanted to communicate to the man, but It didn’t quite know how. The man turned his head toward the sound, and started to walk over to It. “Good, Prototype Zero is up and running,” said the man. Prototype…Zero? Prototype Zero is me? It had a name! This made Prototype Zero happy. The man turned away from Prototype Zero and picked up a pad of paper and a pencil and started to write. Prototype Zero very much wanted the man to look at It again. Prototype Zero wanted to communicate with the man who seemed so very important to It but he was not paying attention to It. The man was only paying attention to the paper he was writing on. 

The man was still busy writing when the door behind him opened. Prototype Zero looked over toward the door and focused his photoreceptors. There was someone very much like the man but yet very different that had just come into the room through the door. This was…woman? Yes a woman. Prototype Zero wondered if the woman would come and talk to It. The woman seemed important to It as well but in a different way. The woman seemed important, in a “safety”** sort of way. Yes safe. Prototype Zero really wanted safe at that moment. The man who seemed very important to Prototype Zero had turned away from It and did not understand Its attempt to communicate with him. It was unsure of where It was or what It was and desperately wanted to be with the others like itself that It had sensed. If Prototype Zero could not find the others, and the man would not pay attention to Prototype Zero, then maybe the woman would be Prototype Zero’s…friend? Yes friend.

The woman was holding a small piece of paper in her hand. “Sir, another telegram has come from the Dandy Candy Company,” the woman said to the man and gave a little frown. “They say things are dire and they need to know when you are coming to Africa with your robots.” 

The man sat down his writing pad and pencil and took the telegram from the woman’s hand. “Thank you Iris,” he said to her. He skimmed over the telegram as the woman the man had called Iris, stood there next to him. The woman looked towards Prototype Zero. The woman had noticed It! Prototype Zero did Its best to smile at the woman. Prototype Zero opened Its mouth to try to speak to the woman and again nothing but a low garbled sound came out. The woman furrowed her brow and looked away from Prototype Zero and back towards the piece of paper the man was holding. She stood there with a look on her face. The look was…unknown to Prototype Zero but it seemed like a sort of "sad". 

The man finished reading and looked up from the telegram at the woman. “Is there something wrong, Iris?” He asked. “Oh it’s just that…Sir, I mean no disrespect, but I worry about sending these automatons into war,” said Iris. “Rabbit, Spine, number 3 and that oven-bot are so child-like and so very aware.” “I am worried for them,” she said, “I know it is for the greater good, Sir, but you have made so many and here is yet another.” “Will this one be another child going to war?” she asked. 

The man looked from Iris to Prototype Zero and back to Iris. “No, no, rest assured this one is nothing like the other four,” he said. “I have built the bulk of the army as drones, able to function, take instructions with a rudimentary understanding and ability to make simple autonomous decisions, but they are not conscious like the other four.” He momentarily looked at Prototype Zero before looking back at Iris. “I require all the robots I can get to fight this dastardly war and stop Becile.” “This one was built from three scrapped incomplete prototype robots that I used to test the weapons for the others.” “I can’t afford to let anything go to waste so I put them all together and made this automaton.” The man smiled. “He’s impressive isn’t he?” he said, “but no, he was not designed to be like the others, he is not aware.” “This automaton has a blue matter core like all the others, but like the drones it is not refined as the other four and he is only a functional but simple build.” “Prototype Zero here and the other drones will not suffer the same as the original four automatons since they are not conscious,” he said. “I wish I could spare the other four from this ordeal, but we must do what we must for the greater good.” He frowned.

Prototype Zero took in this conversation. He did not understand all of what was said but did gleam some new information***. Not only did he have a name, but he was a HE. Prototype Zero was also something called “impressive.” He was not sure what this meant but it sounded like it was something good. He also learned that the man was called “Sir”, and the woman was called “Iris.” He was learning so much! He hoped he could learn how to communicate soon so he could tell Sir about all the stuff he was learning. Maybe Sir would be proud of him? Prototype Zero very much wanted Sir to be proud of him. Prototype Zero did not know what a war exactly was but from what Sir had said, it sounded like there would be more of his kind there. He would meet and be with the others! This made him happy. Prototype Zero was starting to get excited.

Iris looked into Sir’s eyes. Prototype Zero noted a certain glimmer as though there was an accumulation of moisture in her eyes. “Well, knowing these other automatons will not suffer,” she said, “that is one thing to be thankful for I suppose”. The man gave her a weak smile and handed the telegram back to her. “Send a reply telegram and tell them that we will be shipping out this very week,” he said. He turned away from the woman and retrieved his pad of paper and pencil and started to write again. Iris frowned and stood looking at his back for a long moment. There was an emotion there that Prototype Zero could not process but seemed like a combination of sad and something that he did not have a definition for in his processor. She turned and looked at Prototype Zero again. Prototype Zero tried to smile again but wasn’t sure if he was doing it right. Iris turned away and headed back out the door. Prototype Zero stared at the door long after she left. Maybe Iris would come back? He still very much wanted her to be his friend. He wasn’t sure why she seemed sad. Maybe he could be her friend too and make her happy! 

Sir put down the pad of paper on a nearby table and sighed. He turned and started to walk over to Prototype Zero. Prototype Zero tried again to smile for Sir. He was coming over! Maybe Prototype Zero could try to communicate again. Maybe Sir would be his friend too! Sir stopped in front of Prototype Zero and looked at him for a moment. He seemed as though he was studying Prototype Zero’s photoreceptors as he was looking deeply into them. “No…no consciousness at all,” he said as he raised his arm toward Prototype Zero’s neck. Maybe Sir was going to give Prototype Zero a hug! There was a click and everything went black.


	2. Off To War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prototype Zero has been packed away on a boat and is heading for the war in Africa.

Col Walter had finished preparations for his journey to Africa. The boat was loaded to maximum capacity with an automaton army carefully packed away in crates. The giant mechanical Giraffe which he intended to ride into war had been broken down into four separate pieces that would be easily reassembled once he arrived. His four automaton “sons” stood on the deck of the ship nervously looking over the railing back at Col Walter who was still standing on the deck with Iris and a few of the other staff that had come to see them off. The four automatons had taken to calling him “Pappy.” He was still unsure how he felt about that. They were, after-all, machines originally built to win the heart of the woman he loved. They were mechanical in every way, but they had turned out to be so much more than just machines. Iris had been correct when she had described them as child-like. They would occasionally follow the staff or even Col Walter himself through the manor like a flock of baby ducks, observing everything. Col Walter could see them learning, becoming more advanced. He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised by how much they were progressing; he had done some of his best work on those four in an effort to impress Delilah. He had wanted them to be close to human in behavior and had done some very advanced programming on them, but he had never expected them to be this life-like. For all-the-world, they truly seemed alive. He had theorized that the combination of programming and the mysterious blue matter that powered their core had resulted in this. He was still testing this theory.

Iris subtly wiped her eye with her kerchief. “Sir, we will ensure the manor is well taken care of in your absence,” she said, “I…we will miss your presence and we look forward to the day you return home.” Col Walter noticed the slip, but said nothing. Things had become complicated with Iris. The night of Delilah’s passing he had drank to excess to numb his pain. He could not exactly remember everything that happened that night but he did know one thing for sure and that was that he and Iris had been together. He had been afraid that he had brutishly forced himself upon her in his stupor. She had assured him that was not so. She had wanted to be with him. He suspected that she might have feelings for him. There had been little hints here and there that he had ignored until after that night. Even with her repeated assurance that he in no way had forced the event, that she had been a willing participant, and that she had taken steps to prevent the possibility of an unintended pregnancy, guilt still ate at him. Iris was a good girl and she had always been there to help him. She was also a fairly attractive girl and would make some man a good wife. Some days, if circumstances were different, perhaps he would have even considered making her his wife. Col Walter nodded to the staff a quick goodbye and turned and headed toward the ship.

-3 Days Later-

Prototype Zero awoke again to nothing but inky blackness. He had awoken several times to nothing but this darkness over the past several days. The last thing he had remembered was Sir reaching toward his neck and the next thing he knew he had awoken here. He was confined in a very small space, some sort of wooden box. The whole thing would sway and pitch as he lay in the darkness. The movement was messing with his internal stabilizers. It was making him dizzy. Prototype Zero felt bad. He was unsure and being confined in this small space in the darkness with the dizzying motion bothered him greatly. He wished so much that the man would come back and take him from this place. Had Prototype Zero done something wrong? Was Sir unhappy with him? He continued to sense the others, many others, but had not seen any of them. He supposed it would be impossible to see them in this darkness. Being isolated in the box he was in didn’t help the situation either. He grasped an armful of packing straw and held it close to him. This helped Prototype Zero feel better. It was good to have something to hold onto. It felt “safe,” like the safe that he felt Iris was. He quietly drifted back into stasis.

-The Following Day-

Prototype Zero was startled from stasis by a creaking and cracking noise coming from directly above him. Suddenly the top of the wooden box was removed and all he could see for a moment was light pouring in. His photoreceptors adjusted and he could see a man standing above the opening to the box. This man was not Sir. This man had gray hair and a slight beard and was holding a crowbar. Another man with brown hair and a mustache walked up next to him holding a long list of paper. He looked down the list he was holding and said “yes, Prototype Zero, this one is in Drone Unit Alpha, we need to get it topside for the Colonel.” The man with the brown hair and mustache pulled a small metal box looking device out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons. Prototype Zero felt a weird tingling sensation and immediately, through no effort of his own, got up and exited the box. He had not decided to do this himself, his body was moving on its own. He started to panic a little as he started walking up the stairs to the top deck of the ship like a marionette on strings.

Once Prototype Zero arrived on the top deck out in the open sunlight his body came to an immediate stop. “Good, good the remote works,” said a man walking up from behind Prototype Zero. When the person who had spoken finally walked in front of Prototype Zero, he was thrilled to see it was Sir! He was filled with happiness to finally see Sir again.  
“Aye, Colonel the remote works just fine,” said the man with the brown hair and mustache as he handed the little metal box over to Sir. “Thank you Everette,” said Sir taking the box from him. Prototype Zero noted that this other man had called Sir “Colonel.” Perhaps Sir had two names? Prototype Zero decided that he would call Sir by Colonel Sir from there on. Colonel Sir clicked several buttons and Prototype Zero felt the strange tingling again as his body moved on its own and started to march toward the back end of the ship. Ahead he could see lines of men made out of metal standing in a square formation. Men made of metal just like him. It was the others! He was going to finally meet the others! Prototype Zero attempted another smile as he wanted to make a good impression. He was still not sure if he was doing it right.

Prototype Zero’s body marched him directly to the back of the square formation of the other metal men and placed him at the end of the last line. Colonel Sir did not follow Prototype Zero, but had instead gone to the front of the formation. He could not see him from where he was standing. The tingling sensation had left his body but his feet seemed to be rooted to the deck floor. He could hear Colonel Sir talking but he was not sure who he was talking to. It seemed as though he was talking to the formation metal men he was standing in, but he was not sure. He would occasionally pick up words like “danger,” “elephants,” “insane,” and “green matter.” Truth was that he was too distracted because he was so excited to finally be with the others.

Prototype Zero looked to his right at the metal man standing next to him. He turned his head and tried to say “hello” to it. Again, nothing but a low garbled sound came out. He simply did not know how to form words; it had not been part of his programming. The other metal man turned its head and stared at him. Prototype Zero attempted a little wave at the other metal man. It continued to stare at him but made no move to wave back. Prototype Zero attempted to do a bigger smile, this time opening his mouth wide and showing all his metal teeth. The other metal man just continued to stare at him. This was not going as he had expected. He decided he would maybe try again later with another one of the others. His trying to make friends with this one was obviously going nowhere. Prototype Zero turned his head back toward the front of the formation but other metal man continued to stare at him. If Prototype Zero had been programmed with full range of emotional definitions, he would have known what he was feeling just then was “uncomfortable.”

Colonel Sir had stopped talking and again he felt the tingling sensation run through his body as it started to march on its own. The square formation of automatons reformed into a double line, two by two. The metal man that Prototype Zero had tried to make friends with was marching right next to him with its head still turned staring, photoreceptors boring into his head plating. He shifted his photoreceptors elsewhere to try to ignore the staring automaton. He saw Colonel Sir still standing on deck talking to a very tall silver metal man. This metal man seemed to be talking back to Colonel Sir! Maybe he could make friends with this metal man! Prototype Zero tried to wave at the tall silver robot but his body would not respond. It just continued to march forward. The double line of automatons descended below deck and he lost sight of Colonel Sir and the tall silver metal man. Maybe they would come down later?.

As the double line of automatons entered the bottom of the ship, the now empty crates had been arranged in lines to serve as benches. The automatons lined up in front of each row of crates and as one sat down. Finally the tingling sensation left Prototype Zero’s body. The men who were down in the bottom of the ship closed the door as they left and Prototype Zero was again surrounded by darkness. All around the room was the eerie glow of photoreceptors. The automaton that he had tried to make friends with finally turned its head and stopped staring at him. All of a sudden it leaned over and sort of crashed into his side. It laid it’s head on his shoulder and shut its photoreceptors. Prototype Zero was both startled and oddly comforted by this. That is, he would have known what that was what he was feeling had he been programmed with the definition of “comfort”. He laid his head on top of the strange (formerly) staring metal man and wrapped his arm around its shoulder. This felt “safe”. Prototype Zero shut his photoreceptors and went into stasis.


	3. New Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The good Col Walter is still on his way to Africa. We get to learn a little bit more about why he built the drones. Zero learns some new things. (sorry its short, I'm new to this so I'm still working out how to get this story out of my head and onto the page). :)

Col Peter A. Walter and his automaton army had been at sea for three weeks and were getting closer to arriving in Africa. During that time the Colonel made sure his drone army and his boys were prepared for the impending battle. He spent days running the automatons through drills, not so much to train them how to battle, but more to train his robotic sons how to command the drone units. Each automaton drone and his four sons were loaded with various weapons and had strength which he had no doubt was more than enough to deal with Becile’s horrific copper elephants. He just needed to make sure they could function as units under the command of his robotic sons or the effort might be futile and descend into chaos. Each of his four sons were to be “Generals” leading one of the four units of drone automatons. In turn he would be able to remotely contact his robotic sons and give them directions from his view inside the giant robotic giraffe, Delilah. He had installed each of the four with an internal remote control that they could access through internal commands that would send directions to the drone units. If everything went to plan, they would function as a cohesive army. If not…well he didn’t want to think about it.

He knew his robotic sons had reservations about using their remote control units on the drones. He supposed he should have seen this coming. Even though they were machines they were the most sensitive “humans” he’d ever known. “But Pappy, why we gotta force them to fight…I-I don’t feel right forcing anyone to do anything,” Rabbit protested. “Yeah, how do we even know they want to be here or fight, they might be scared Pappy” said Number Three. The oven bot sat next to Number Three rocking forward and back while twitching his mustache into a frown. He supposed this was the closest the poor bot could get to nodding his head in agreement since he didn’t have a proper neck. He needed to remind himself to try to remedy this sometime after this blasted war was over.

He had tried repeatedly to explain to his sons that these other automatons were not like them. They were not built to be like them. They lacked the advanced programming. They weren’t “alive”. “Boys, you need to stop worrying about the drones, it is useless to waste your time being concerned for them or forming an attachment to them,” he said to them. The four shared confused looks between themselves. The Spine, was the first to speak up, “But Sir…”… He had heard this all before so Col Walter quickly cut him off, “Now boys, I KNOW they LOOK somewhat like you, move like you, and yes they have some basic programming to ensure they understand enough to take orders,” he sighed, “…I know this must be very confusing, but they are only THINGS.” His four robotic sons each showed a momentary look of outrage. Great…here we go again. “Wrong word, Peter…wrong word…” Col Walter thought to himself. Rabbit opened his mouth to protest again so the Colonel quickly added “UNLIKE you boys…you four are special…VERY special…those other automatons are only machines and nothing more, they are no more special than a typewriter.” His robotic sons didn’t look convinced and he could feel another round of arguments coming. Col Walter dismissed them to their cabin before they could argue further.

The war was going to be hard enough on them, he didn’t want them getting emotionally attached to robots that were not aware and could never return the sentiment. He didn’t want them getting attached to the drones that were basically built to be destroyed. Truth was, he built the drones to not be fully conscious because he was hoping that the drones would take all the fire instead of his sons. It would be unconscionable to send a conscious and “alive” robot into the line of fire. He was putting his hope on that the sheer number of mindless drones, sent marching ahead of his boys, would give boys a better chance of getting through this war without seriously getting damaged or worse. Let the drones be the cannon fodder! Let the non-living drones run into battle and take the brunt of it. He would risk losing all of the drones if it meant keeping his boys safe.

Prototype Zero sat in the hull of the ship with all the other drones thinking about his experiences so far. Over the past several weeks he had gotten to know quite a bit more about himself and his world. He had learned that the “war” thing they were going to was not going to be something fun. The war had been talked about in front of him and the other drones and it sounded awful. There was going to be huge metal monsters that Col Sir was concerned would crush his automatons. He did not want to be crushed. He also heard Col Sir and some of the ship’s crew talking about this green stuff that did bad things and made people sick. It sounded really bad and awful. There was a bad man who was hurting people and they were supposed to stop him. The more he heard and understood about the war, the more Prototype Zero wished they could turn the boat around and go home. He wanted to feel safe. The war sounded very “un-safe”.

Colonel Sir had regularly brought the group of drones up from the hull of the ship to stand in square formations and then be marched around via commands issued by the thing he had learned was called a “remote control”. He had learned that when he experienced the tingling sensations and his body started to move on its own, it was because Col Sir, or one of the other four Automatons were using this “remote control.” Prototype Zero was a little confused on how it worked as when Col Sir used the “remote control” he was holding a little box in his hand. The other four automatons were not. The commands seemed to be coming directly from them. He also noticed that they seemed to be sad when Col Sir made them run the drone units through commands from their unseen “remote controls”. He was even more curious about these other four automatons since he had also learned that the drones had been divided into four “something called units” and each of these four other automatons were in charge of them. Prototype Zero learned that he was in what was called “Drone Unit Alpha” and he had the tall silver automaton issuing commands to his group.

Prototype Zero was fascinated by these other four automatons. They were similar to him but they were “in charge,” they were also free to walk around the ship and more or less do what they wanted. They didn’t seem to have anyone giving them any sort of “remote control” commands. They also seemed much more advanced than him. Not only were they programmed with the ability to make words and speak, they seemed to have a lot of programming and other abilities that he himself lacked. He could hear them silently communicating with each other over the air. It was a series of blips*. He had the ability to understand what they were silently saying back and forth but lacked the ability to send blips of his own**. This made Prototype Zero feel sad. He could sense that these other four were just like him on the inside but they were advanced where he was limited. He didn’t understand why Col Sir didn’t create him or the other drones the same way as these four. What made them so special? As far as Prototype Zero could tell, they were all the same on the inside, just had different abilities.

What the four special automatons had discussed silently with their blips made him feel even sadder. While he learned that these other four had volunteered to go to this war, they were also scared. Prototype Zero was scared too but wished he had some way to make them feel safe. He could never get close enough to one of them to hug them and he had no way of communicating with them. Most of the time when he was even around them he was under the influence of the remote control and was more or less along for the ride while his body moved about following the orders sent to it or he was in the back of “Drone Unit Alpha” too far away to get their attention. It was frustrating. Prototype Zero felt so alone the way he was. He was surrounded by others like him but he lacked a way to connect to them. The special automatons certainly had a way to connect to him, but he couldn’t return that connection.

During the many days, Prototype Zero would think over all the things he’d learned and seen. This eventually led to one of the few good things to happen to him in the past several weeks. The other drone automaton that Prototype Zero had tried to make friends with on the first day he was activated aboard the ship had continued to stare at him. It would follow him around when they were free to move around the hull of the ship after the crew left them and shut the doors. Prototype Zero realized that maybe this other drone was like him. It was lonely too and isolated because it lacked the same programming and ability to speak or send blips over the air. Several days after Prototype Zero realized that the four more advanced automatons were silently communicating using those blips, he had an idea. Maybe he could still communicate using something similar to the blips the others had used. He had understood the blips when he heard them through the air, but he couldn’t send a blip the way they had. Maybe he could find a way to make a different sort of “blip”.

As Prototype Zero was sitting next to the other drone late that same night he tested his idea. Prototype Zero turned to look back at the staring drone. Well, here goes nothing. Prototype blinked his eyes in rapid movements to mimic blips similar to the ones used by the other four, “.... ..” (Hi). The other drone continued to stare for a moment and then returned an answer in its own series of short and long blinks “.... .. -- ---- ---“ (Hi Too).

Prototype Zero nearly fell over from excitement. Finally he had made contact with another! He blinked back to the other robot “you understand me!” The other drone blinked back “yes, nice to speak”. They sat there staring at each other for a long moment. Prototype Zero noticed that the other robot was moving its mouth at odd angles and shaking slightly. It blinked at him “I do smile…I not know how but I do smile at you.” Prototype Zero moved his mouth at odd angles too as he tried to return the smile that he himself had not yet mastered. It was a shame he only had programming of the concept that a smile equaled “friendly, not enemy” but did not possess the directions on how to do one.

“My name is Prototype Zero, you have name?” he blinked at the other robot. The other robot stopped moving its mouth at its odd angled attempt to smile and looked down for a moment in contemplation. When it looked back up it blinked back “I know not name.” Prototype Zero blinked “name…what Colonel Sir call you.” The other robot blink-asked “is Colonel Sir that man…man that woke me…big white thing?” Prototype Zero blinked back “Yes, that him, what he call you?” The other robot looked down again in thought, when it looked up again it blinked back “he say I Dun…my name is Dun***.” Prototype Zero blinked back “nice to meet you Dun.” Dun blink-replied “nice to meet you P..P...Pro...typ...Zero...long name too hard; I call you Zero.” Zero and Dun sat and “talked” for a couple hours before they both fell into stasis leaning against each other. Zero felt like he finally had a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * If I remember correctly from SPG lore, in the early days the (main character) robots could communicate via shortwave telegraph. Sort of like their WiFi connection know but old timey.
> 
> ** They are speaking in morse code. The Drones were given the ability to hear it (so they could take commands, etc.) but not respond. 
> 
> *** Col Walter actually said he was "done" but Dun doesn't really know that. lol


	4. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short Chapter. Col Walter built mindless non-living drones to fight in the war and take most of the fire and damage instead of his four robotic sons. Those four robotic sons don't agree with the Colonel's belief that the drones aren't more than they appear.

Col Walter’s boat was due to arrive on the coast of Africa within the next day. Late that night four automaton brothers sat together in their cabin having a hushed discussion.

“I-I-I know what Pappy told us, but I just can’t stop think’n about them,” said Rabbit  
“How do we k-k-know they ain’t like us?” “A lot of p-p-people think we’re just walking scrap metal!”

The Spine sighed, “I know how you feel Rabbit, I’m having a hard time with this too but we have to respect the Colonel’s wishes on this...”

“But it isn’t right,” said number 3, who was now going by The Jon. The name had come about one night after a cruel joke was made by one of the deckhands in the insinuation that number 3 was made out of old bedpans. The little brass robot was obviously not made out of bedpans, old or new, but that didn’t stop the other crewmembers from laughing. Apparently grog made a lot of things funny even when they really weren’t. The other sailors started to jokingly refer to the little robot as The Jon and it stuck. Poor Jon didn’t realize the joke but liked the name so much that he decided to keep it. He was proud of his new name. His brothers didn’t feel it was right to tell him what it really meant. The Jon continued, “Some of them are scared; they don’t know why they are here or even who they are.”

The Spine raised a brow at The Jon. “Jon, how can you know that?” “None of the other robots can even talk.”

“…I’M scared” said the little oven bot quietly. 

Rabbit put an arm around him, “it’s ok Hatchy w-w-we’ll look out for you”. Although the oven bot didn’t officially have a name yet, the other robots had started to refer to him by the pet name “Hatchy” after the hatch in his chest.

“I know how they feel because I can hear them…,” said The Jon.

The Spine and Rabbit shared a look with each other.

“S-s-sure you can Jonny boy,” said Rabbit.

The Jon furrowed his brows at Rabbit and the Spine, “but I CAN…and they ARE like us and they are confused and some are SCARED!” “IT ISN’T RIGHT!”

The Spine could tell The Jon was starting to get upset. The Jon was prone to saying he could see or hear things others couldn’t. Col Walter and his automaton brothers had theorized that it was a side effect of the weird blue matter void that inhabited his chest. The Jon had made claims of Unicorns roaming the Manor grounds, a dragon who wore a bandana and was the master of sound…whatever that meant…, and even some mysterious man in purple who The Jon said fought zombie bears armed with only a banjo. No one in the manor could make heads or tails of some of the things The Jon said so they usually just wrote it off as just another one of those “weird Jon moments”. The Spine was almost certain that The Jon “hearing” the drone robots was another one but even The Spine had to admit that he had his own doubts about whether the drones were as lifeless as the Colonel had claimed. Every now and then The Spine could almost feel something from them calling to his blue matter core that gave him an unnerving sense of familiarity.

“Alright Jon,” said The Spine. “Maybe the Colonel is wrong and they are like us, we still have to fight this war.” “We can’t go back on our word there are too many lives at stake.”

“Y-y-yeah, you’re right, “said Rabbit, “we did make a promise to Pappy and we gotta s-s-stop all them elephants from hurting more people.” “I just still don’t think it’s right to throw some other poor robut in f-f-front of us when they didn’t even get a choice.”

“I agree with brother Rabbit,” said the little oven bot, “although I am scared, I did chose to fight this war and they were not given the same choice…”

The Spine frowned. In his core he knew they were right but they had agreed and given their word that they would fight this war and they couldn’t just go against Colonel Walter’s orders. Not directly at least. “You guys know we can’t send humans to fight this war,” he said, “WE have to fight it and the Colonel built the drones to make sure there was enough of us to be able to win.” “We have to lead our units and we have to fight, but we can sort of give them a choice.”

The other three automatons looked at each other. 

“What are you s-s-saying we do then?” asked Rabbit.

“We can use the remotes that were installed in us to send messages with the commands to the drones, but I say we don’t take their free will away,” said The Spine. “We send them the message and they choose how to follow it.” “If they are as sentient as The Jon feels,… and maybe I also feel a little…, they will know what to do from all the drills and training we’ve ran them through.” 

“But, what i-i-if they chose to run away?” asked Rabbit.

“Then we won’t stop them, “said The Spine, “but we will not be sending them out to be destroyed against their will.”

“Won’t Pappy notice we are not controlling the drones once we arrive?” asked the oven bot.

“We can use the remotes fully until we get to the battle, then we release them to their own free will,” said The Spine. “That way the Colonel won’t notice but we still allow them to choose.”

The Jon jumped up and hugged The Spine. “Thank you!” 

The other two automaton brothers joined the hug. The four of them felt better knowing they would be giving their drone siblings a chance. Below deck the drones slept in stasis. They’d all be in Africa tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this addition took so long. I've always had a "big picture" plan for how I wanted this story to play out but needed some time to think on how to get there. This is just a short chapter but I felt it needed to be posted before I could move even further with the story. More to come.


	5. Welcome to Africa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boat finally arrives in Africa and Col Peter A. Walter and his robots start their trek to the Serengeti.

Early the following day Col Peter A. Walter’s ship reached Africa. Zero wasn’t sure at first what was happening. All he knew was that the boat had stopped moving and there was lots of activity going on above deck. 

Dun turned to Zero and blinked its photoreceptors, “ship stopped…”

“Yeah..,” blinked Zero, “lots of noise up there.” Zero pointed toward the top deck.

“You think we at the war now?” blinked Dun.

“Not sure,” blinked Zero, “maybe something happened.”

“Ship sink?” asked Dun

They both looked down at the floorboards together.

“I see no water, we safe for now,” blinked Zero.

“Good, I like safe,” blinked Dun. They sat in silence for a few moments before Dun turned toward Zero again. “Zero…the war…I do lots of thought…it sound unsafe, “blinked Dun.

Zero had made that same conclusion weeks ago but didn’t want to scare Dun. “You no worry, I keep you safe,” blinked Zero.

Dun let off a puff of steam and blinked back, “I keep you safe too, we stay together.”

Zero liked that. Even though he knew the war wasn’t going to be safe for anyone, having Dun with him would help him feel as though it was a little less unsafe. Zero nodded at Dun and tried to do a smile. The right side of his mouth jerked up at an angle. Zero felt he was getting close to doing “smile” correctly. He had been working on it and was proud of his progress. Dun returned the smile by mimicking Zero’s motion. They turned back to sit facing forward in silence.

Above deck crew members were scurrying all over the deck unloading various boxes, crates, and gear for the Colonel. Col Walter was currently standing on land near the dock supervising his robotic sons as they opened up several large crates. “Careful boys, you will need to be gentle while lifting those pieces out of the crates.” Slowly but surely the contents of the crates were emptied and laid together on the ground. 

The form of a giant metal giraffe was starting to take shape with the laid out pieces from the crates. “We need to put her together, “said Col Walter, “Spine I will need you to assist me with some of the more complicated assembly.” At this comment Rabbit snapped his head around at the Colonel and puffed a huge ploom of steam. It was obvious that the eldest robot was upset at not being asked to help with the special task. The Jon and Hatchy continued on with their work with indifference. The Colonel internally winced. He hadn’t meant to slight the poor robot. The problem was with Rabbit’s sharp needle-like fingers. The Spine had more dexterous and human-like fingers installed. He had needed the upgrade in order to play his guitar. The Colonel smiled toward Rabbit, “don’t worry my boy, I need you to help me with a super important part of the assembly.” Rabbit’s demeanor immediately changed. He hadn’t exactly told Rabbit a lie either. The flame thrower he had installed in his throat assembly could be adjusted and made the perfect blow torch for welding. He was going to need to use it for some of the final assembly.

Around midday Delilah the steam powered giraffe had been assembled and was puffing steam from the vents along her long and towering neck. A few curious locals had wandered by out of curiosity to see what was happening when the crates had been carried off the ship and the contents were laid out. After the giraffe was finished and running some had immediately fled the area. The braver ones still looked on but were standing considerably farther away, usually in doorways. 

The Colonel thought at first that they were simply afraid of the giant metal giraffe as it was something they had never seen before. After talking to the guides he’d hired he discovered that the reason most were afraid is that they had encountered Becile and his copper elephants. Most of them lived in villages near and around the Dandy Candy Co. mines. Becile and his elephants had destroyed their villages and taken many of their people away with him. Colonel Walter wasn’t 100 percent sure why Becile had taken so many people but knowing about the nature of green matter and of Becile’s work, he was almost certain he was turning them into his own green matter zombie army. The survivors who escaped Becile had fled to this port town as a refuge. 

The Colonel wanted to reassure the villagers that he would stop Becile and end the terror he was spreading across the land, but as he looked back at his robotic sons a pang hit the pit of his stomach. Sure he knew his robotic army could defeat Becile but at what cost? It pained him to think of anything happening to his boys. What if he gave in and let Becile win out of a moment of fear and weakness for the safety of his sons? He shook his head. Hopefully the drones he built would see and take the worst of it. He would have to remain steadfast. There simply was no going back on this. Becile had to be defeated, no matter what. The Colonel knew in the back of his mind that this war was probably going to haunt him and his sons for the rest of their days. 

The caravan started through the jungle that afternoon. The four Walter Automatons had followed their Pappy’s instructions and controlled their units as they marched them off the boat and into the jungle. However, the four were having a hard time remaining in “commander mode”. There were simply too many new and fascinating things they had never seen before! Even though The Spine remained the most unaffected, he still had his moments of getting distracted by something interesting. At one point he got so distracted staring at a monkey that he actually walked smack into the back of one of Delilah’s legs. The Spine tried to play it off but the huge puff of steam gave away his embarrassment. The only Walter Automaton who even really noticed was Rabbit anyway. The Jon was too busy trying to chase butterflies and Hatchy wanted to stop and inspect every plant that looked like it could be edible. The butterfly was understandable but they were still confused about why Hatchy was interested in edible plants. Maybe it had to do with his former history of being a potbelly stove? 

The Colonel who was riding high above inside the giant giraffe had to pause every now and then and remind them to stay on task. He was a bit frustrated but he realized he couldn’t really be mad at them. They were still very much children and Africa was filled with things they had never seen before. He just prayed they didn’t get distracted when the battle began. He was going to have to have a talk with them sometime in the near future about not being distracted. 

Zero and Dun marched on in their unit following the giant giraffe and their Automaton commanders through the jungle which were in turn led by hired guides. Zero was almost grateful they were under remote control and kept marching forward through no effort of their own. As he looked around he was amazed by almost everything he saw. If he hadn’t been under remote control he was pretty sure he’d stop to look at something and would get distracted and be lost when the rest of the group moved on. While the jungle had been a fascinating place full of new and interesting things he had never seen before in his relatively short life, he also noticed the dark corners. The deeper darker recesses of the jungle were he occasionally saw large things prowling with eyes reflecting in the gloom. He was certain he didn’t want to find out what those things were.

Dun turned its head toward Zero and blinked “this better than boat.” 

Zero looked around apprehensively and then blinked to Dun, “yes, is better but we should be careful…bad things might be nearby.”

Dun blinked in response “…the war?”

Zero responded, “yes…but maybe other bad things too.”

Dun swiveled its head around looking around the jungle, “I don’t see any bad.”

Zero blinked, “maybe not, but we should be careful.”

Dun nodded its head at Zero, “I be careful,…still enjoy the pretty things though.”

At dusk the group stopped and set up camp for the night. The drones remained standing in their unit formations. Col Walter had a tent and his automaton sons shared another. The guides had decided to stay in a nearby village they were familiar with. It was one of the few that Becile had not attacked on his rampage, probably because he either didn’t know of its existence or it was just too far away from the Dandy Candy Co. mines on the Serengeti. 

The guides said they should reach the edge of the Serengeti in another two days. They marked on a map to indicate the last part of the route that the Colonel should follow. The plan was that they would head back to the village they were currently spending the night at when they were half a day’s walk away from the Serengeti’s edge. There was no need to endanger them further and Col Walter felt the less human beings he had with him the better when facing Becile. The man was clearly delusional and murderous. The reports he had received from the Dandy Candy Co. and the refugees who had fled their villages was horrific. How could a respected man of science fall so far into madness? 

Col Walter frowned as he sat in his tent going over his maps when that question drifted into his mind. He knew how Becile had fallen. It was the same way he had fell…Delilah. Dear, dear, Delilah. 

The very first time he ever saw her she had taken his breath away. Not only because she was beautiful, which she very much was, but it was also her brilliant mind. He had wanted so much to make her his own. Unfortunately Becile had also fallen for the same woman. His once close friend became his bitter rival almost overnight. Her death shattered them both. Becile sunk into depravity with his green matter experiments and it was rumored he had even tried to resurrect her. He shook his head. It was shameful to try such a thing on a person who he supposedly loved. 

The Colonel wasn’t free of guilt either after her death. He had committed shameful acts himself. True, he would have never dared to try to revive Delilah somehow through blue matter; he had still allowed himself to sink into his grief. He only hazily remembered his actions that night but what he did remember left him ashamed. It had started with one bottle, then more. He wasn’t really sure how much he had drank that night. Iris had cleaned up after him. She hid the aftermath. Well most of the aftermath. He knew what had happened between him and Iris that night. Poor Iris; she deserved better than that. She deserved better than HIM. She had been one of the best servants he’d ever had. For starters she hadn’t run off even when his blue matter experiments shook the house, which was more than could be said for most of his other servants. The woman seemingly had no fear. She was always helpful and kind. Sometimes she showed up with a tray of food or a tool he was looking for before he even asked for assistance. She took good care of him. She possibly even cared for him. He had to admit, she had been a ray of sunshine in that house… He hoped he hadn’t ruined that. He had been surprised about how much he had thought of her while on this journey. If he were honest with himself, he was looking forward to returning home and seeing her smiling face after this was over. He sighed and turned down the flame on his oil lantern and got into his cot for the night. 

Outside in the dark the drone units stood in formation. The remote control finally clicked off as their respective automaton commanders went into stasis. There were odd sounds in the night. Zero looked around nervously. What if those sounds were the prowling things he had seen in the shadows as they marched? This place was so big and so many trees. Zero looked around checking the perimeter again before looking up towards the top of the trees to make sure there was nothing bad lurking up there waiting for them to go into stasis so it could attack. 

Zero froze in place at that moment with his mouth hanging open as he stared toward the sky. His photoreceptor opened wide. Dun turned to Zero and blinked “what wrong?…something bad?…what you look at?” Zero didn’t see Dun’s blinking as he continued to stare in amazement. Dun, frustrated, decided to find out for itself what Zero was looking at. Dun turned its head upward to follow Zero’s gaze and froze in place with their mouth hanging open as well. Above them was a break in the tree canopy and the night sky was filled with twinkling lights. A few of the other drones seemed to notice Zero and Dun staring skyward and turned their heads in that direction with the same results ensuing. A few more noticed those drones staring up at the sky and looked up to see what they were looking at only to also be astonished with what they saw. This continued until eventually the entire army of drones were all staring at the night sky with an amazed look on their faces. STARS. That’s what the file of general (and limited) knowledge that Zero had been built with told him. Sadly it only gave a short description as such: (Stars: Twinkling lights in night sky…good for navigation…See: Navigation). Well whatever they were they were beautiful. Zero felt like these “stars” were looking down on them, watching over them. Zero didn’t feel so afraid of the bad things anymore.


	6. Close to danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after their first night in the Jungle. Col Walter mostly continues to not see what's right before him (metaphorically speaking). The guides bring news that they are closer to Becile than they originally thought. The war is almost here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I should note that so far in this fiction I have referred to Rabbit as being male and used "he". I hope I am not upsetting anyone with this. Rabbit will eventually be female in the story and referred to by female pronouns. That is my future plan for where I want to take this story. In upcoming chapters we will travel into the future (present). Currently Rabbit is a "he" only because that is what Rabbit was at this point in the lore timeline. 
> 
> * Zero assumes he is too far back to hear the four Walter Automatons speaking silently with morse code. He's actually incorrect. When he heard them speaking "in blips" before they were just using the regular open channel that any of them could hear. Since the Walter Automatons have been becoming more and more certain that the drones are sentient they have switched to using a closed channel or only sending signals between them that would not be broadcast to the drones. I hope that makes sense. It's sort of like the WiFi they have now. They can pick and choose who gets the message.
> 
> (Additional note regarding Col Walter's telegram). I'm envisioning Peter A. Walter the first as being a very brilliant man but a bit clueless. One of those people that is passionate about their interests and get so caught up with whatever their current obsession or preoccupation, they just don't seem to see what's going on around them. He's also not as in touch with his emotions as he could be and I was hoping to show by his telegram that he also isn't as good at communicating those emotions. Don't worry, he'll eventually get better. ;)

The sun rose in the African sky. Little beams of light made its way through the tree canopy and reflected off rows and rows of a metal army standing in the jungle. Col. Walter groggily stumbled out of his tent yawning in the morning light. He slowly made his way over to the edge of camp where he started to empty his bladder.

Not long after he heard voices in the camp behind him. “Pappy’s leaking right now, d-d-don’t bother him!” “Rabbit, I was just going to give him his coffee.” “L-L-Lemme do it!” “No, you always spill it!” “Do not!” “You DO Rabbit.” “Yes, brother Rabbit, your hands are not as graceful as The Spine’s and you do always drop the cups.” “See! Hatchy agrees with me!” “Yeah, w-w-well what does Hatchy know!” “But you do brother Rabbit…” “Now yer t-t-turn’n on me Tha Jon?!” “Just let go of the coffee pot Rabbit!...” There was suddenly the sound of a scuffle breaking out and what sounded like one automaton brother trying to hit another with the coffee pot. Col Walter sighed and did up his pants and marched over to the area he had set up to cook by the campfire the day before. 

“Boys!...BOYS!....RABBIT DROP THAT ROCK!!” yelled Col Walter at the struggling pile of automatons. 

“Sorry Pappy,” the four brothers said as one.

“Such a state of you!” said Col Walter, “you boys shouldn’t be fighting!” “We’re going to be fighting a WAR in less than two days and I need you all to ACT like the Generals I charged you to be! That means no fighting anyone but Becile and his army and working together…NOT acting like a bunch of hooligans!”

The Four automatons looked at the ground guiltily and repeated again “sorry Pappy.”

“You boys are brothers; that alone should be reason enough not to fight each other!”

“Yes Pappy,” they said as one.

“You don’t see the drones fighting and acting like hooligans and they aren’t even as advanced as you four!” Col Walter waved his hand in the general direction of the Drones without looking. The four automatons looked over at the drones and froze staring at them. “Besides…what would Miss Iris think of you all behaving like that…Hmm?” There was no response from the four automaton brothers they continued to stare at the drones. “…well”…??!! 

When there was still no response from them, Col Walter turned to see what they were staring at. There standing with the morning sun reflecting off of them was the drone army. Each one with its face raised toward the sky and what almost looked like an expression of awe and wonder on each face. “…what…the…” muttered Col. Walter as he started walking over to the drones. The four automaton brothers seemed to snap out of their trance and followed behind the Colonel from a distance chattering among themselves quietly.

When Col Walter got close enough he could see that the drones were all in stasis but sometime during the night they had all ended up in the pose they were now. “Hmm maybe some of the servos are misaligned…but how could that be the case with ALL of them…” 

“…Pappy..” one of the automatons said from a distance behind him.

“…Maybe a glitch in the stasis protocol…they could have been doing this in the hull…”

“…Pappy…”

“Or maybe some of the moisture from the jungle humidity seeped in around the seams…but I was careful to insulate everything… and it is just not likely there would be the same error in ALL of them....”

“…PAPPY!!!”

Col Walter turned towards his robotic sons, “what?!”

Hatchy the oven-bot was pointing towards the other end of camp; “the men are back.”

“Oh…um…thanks Hatchy,” said Col Walter. He took one last curious look at the nearest drone and then went over to meet the guides who were now taking seats around the camp fire.

As Col Walter walked over to speak with his guides; his four automaton sons eagerly trotted up to the drones.

“W-w-whatcha reckon they were look’n at?” asked Rabbit.

“It seems they were looking at something above,” said The Spine.

“It was the stars…they had never seen them before and were in awe,” said The Jon quietly. The other three automatons looked at The Jon before nodding their head in agreement. They each remembered the first time they had seen the stars. 

“W-w-well this just proves even more that they are like us!” exclaimed Rabbit. “We need to tell Pappy!”

“We have tried to tell him many times on the ship, Rabbit, he just does not see it” said The Spine.

“But perhaps Rabbit is right, and this will finally make him see it,” said Hatchy.

The Jon smiled a sad smile…”no, he won’t see it.” “Pappy has too much on his mind and in his heart right now; he is having trouble seeing what’s before him.”

The other three automatons shared a look. They were never sure where The Jon came up with some of the things that came out of his vocal assembly. He spoke like a sage and a lunatic rolled into one but he just sometimes seemed to KNOW things.

“W-w-well I’m still gonna try…Pappy needs to listen!” Rabbit put on a determined face and marched over towards Col Walter and the men.

The men had returned from the village with new information about Becile’s current location and his activities. There had been more attacks on people and they were actually closer to his location than previously thought. The men also brought a telegram from Iris with them for the Colonel. Col Walter had quickly scanned it and paled. He would have to read it again once they were on the move, and they needed to get moving immediately as Becile was seemingly making his way further towards the coast. Col Walter quickly stuffed the telegram into his jacket pocket and started gathering up the marked maps the guides had brought with changes in route and Becile’s most recent known location. The guides started to help break down the camp and were busy covering up the campfire’s pit and packing away the other camp items. As Col Walter started to head towards his tent Rabbit came running up to him.

“Pappy, the drones…they’re…”!!

“Not NOW Rabbit, we have to get moving! Becile is advancing in this direction and we have to reach him before he gets to the jungle!”

“B-b-but Pappy!” cried Rabbit.

“No buts…go get your brothers and help pack away camp, then I want each of you to command your drone units…we need to start moving out in 20 minutes,” cried Col Walter as he entered his tent and started shoving things into a duffle.”

“Y-y-yes..Pappy,” said Rabbit sadly as he turned away and walked back to his brothers.

 

Less than 20 minutes later they were again marching through the jungle. Zero had awoken with a start when he felt the remote control take over. The stars were gone and they were again marching past all the green plants and the lurking shadows. 

Dun rotated its head towards Zero and blinked, “do you feel that?”

Zero blinked back, “feel what?”

“Not sure…it’s like pressure and scared,” blinked Dun, “we are moving faster than yesterday.”

Zero hadn’t even really noticed until Dun “said” something. Zero quieted his thoughts and took in what was going on around him. “Yes, it’s like scared, pressure, fear…maybe something happen and we need to go faster.”

“Maybe…” blinked Dun, “…that mean we get to war sooner.”

“Maybe,” blinked Zero, “no be scared, I look out for you.”

“I look out for you too,” blinked Dun in return.

As they continued to march that day Zero noticed that the four automaton Commanders would occasionally turn their heads and look back at the drones. They would then look at each other with serious expressions. Zero wondered what that was about. He knew they could speak without making words by sending blips but he supposed he was too far back to pick up anything*. The four automatons leading the units also seemed less distracted today. There was no wandering off or stopping and looking at things. They each maintained a serious expression. Zero was certain that something bad was coming. There had to be. He decided that he was determined to not be scared. Col Sir had given him weapons. He knew they were there and how to use them from the limited programming he had been given. Zero was also heavily built. He was sure he could keep not just Dun safe but the rest too. He would not let them be harmed he decided. Whatever bad things were at this war, he would stop them.

High atop Delilah, Col Walter sat in a seat behind the controls. There wasn’t much to do at the moment as they continued to move in more or less a straight line. Delilah was big enough that she mowed down whatever jungle obstacle might be in the way. Col Walter took out the telegram and read it again.

To be delivered to Col Peter A. Walter, care of Dandy Candy Co. Africa.

Sir, 

I feel I should inform you that I have come to discover that I am with issue after our coming together the night of Ms. Delilah’s passing. I do not place blame on you as I was a willing participant. The Doctor said I am four months gone as of the sending of this telegram. I do not seek to make this your burden. I will suffer the consequences of my actions and vacate my position as your housekeeper should this be your wish. I do not wish to sully your name or reputation with my indiscretion. Please respond when you are able to do so. I will ensure I am off of the manor premises before your return if that be your wish. 

\- Iris Tonia

Col Walter sat back and stared out the clear reinforced glass screen at the jungle ahead of him. He breathed out slowly……Iris…she was pregnant…..pregnant with HIS child! The revelation had much the same effect on him as having a bucket of ice water poured over his head. It was a shock to say the least. 

Once the initial shock faded away to his surprise another strong emotion took its place. Joy. As he thought about Iris, he realized he had been doing that very thing a lot this voyage. He had thought about her constantly since the last small view of her in the distance standing on the dock still waving at his departing ship. He would occasionally wonder what she was doing. During mealtimes he would think about how much the food didn’t measure up to her cooking. If the robots did something unique or interesting he wondered what Iris would think about it. Sometimes as he drifted off to sleep, he realized his mind had been wandering to visions of her. How could he have been so oblivious to what was right in front of him?! 

He found his heart beating against his ribcage at the thought. Her carrying his child brought an unexpected bliss. A sense of warmness came over him. When had it happened exactly? When had he fallen in love? Sure he had always admired how helpful and clever she had been since the very day she had started working as his housekeeper. How delicate her hands were as she passed him a screwdriver…the quick wit in her lovely eyes, (which he felt as though his soul could happily fall into), …her smile that could light a room,…how shapely her *AHEM*…umm yes, she had a rather appealing figure. Iris, his Iris, was having his baby and he was overjoyed about it. He knew now that he loved her. Perhaps he had all along but hadn’t been honest with himself. Maybe his obsession with Delilah had hidden it. He had been really distracted with her death and getting ready for this war with Becile. Little else had been on his mind. All along this love had been blooming right under his nose and he had been too foolish to see it.

Col. Walter got out a pencil and paper. He would send her a telegram as soon as possible. Hopefully he could send one of the guides to a depot or village when they camped for the night. Then again, the news that the guides had returned with that morning was that Becile had been on the move and they were now closer to Becile than they had originally thought. Maybe he should have the other humans leave tonight and not return. It was too dangerous to bring them any closer. He could send the message with them this evening to send a telegram to Iris as soon as they reached a village with a telegraph hook up. Yes, that is what he will do. He prayed that he would still be in one piece at the end of this war in order to go home and see his Iris again. Col. Walter started scribbling out a response to Iris as the army marched on. 

To be delivered to Iris Tonia, Care of Walter Manor- San Diego CA.

Ms. Tonia, I have no wish to have you leave Walter Manor. I would never dream of putting a  
woman in your condition out on the street. I hope I have not given you the impression that I  
could be capable of such cruelty. Suffice to say I was surprised by your message but I am also  
over joyed. The responsibility does not fall on your shoulders alone and you have not brought me any feelings of shame. You have on the contrary brought different emotions to me with the news. I would like to make this right by you and offer you a new position in the household as being that of my wife, should you have me. Please respond and I will make the arrangements before I leave Africa.

Yours truly, Peter A. Walter 

Col Walter read over his message. Yes, that should do it. He tucked it away in the envelope Iris’ message had arrived in and planned to give it to the guides that evening. Now he had yet another reason for wanting to win this war quickly and get home in one piece. He hoped, his Iris would accept his proposal and wanted nothing more than to see her again.

Somewhere on the Serengeti animals were fleeing in droves, frightened. In the distance was smoking ruins of villages that had been destroyed. The ground rumbled ominously as giant copper elephants trampled over the land. Each had a sickly green glow about it. Inside the largest copper elephant sat a man whose skin was not just pale and sallow but also gave a faint sickly green glow. He urged his army forward destroying everything in their path. Searching… Green matter, he needed more. MORE! This continent was ripe with it. The Dandy Candy co. refused to allow him access to their mines! The fools! They would pay…they would all pay! They couldn’t keep him from his endeavor. He needed more green matter and no one was going to stand in his way…

… If only he had more green matter at the time…if only he had had more time...maybe he could have saved her. Delilah… He had made an attempt after she had passed. The rest of the Cavilcadium had called him mad for his experiments before then but they didn’t understand. It was for HER…Delilah... He knew, JUST KNEW, the secret to bringing her back lay somewhere locked in the very nature of green matter itself. Delilah… When she passed away any other scientist would have conceded defeat. He wouldn’t allow death to cheat him…cheat him of Delilah…The experiment seemed to have worked at first. It went wrong though…Delilah… No one would understand. This was only a set back! He could save her…Delilah… He just needed more…more green matter for Delilah…


	7. Fire, Fire...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Col Walter moves his army quickly through the jungle to try to reach Becile before he can leave the Serengeti. Unfortunately Becile sent a little surprise ahead of his copper elephant army. Aaaand Col Walter still manages to stick his foot in his mouth.

Zero’s programming lacked the definition but what he felt when the army had finally stopped marching was relief. If they had marched for much longer he felt as though one of his joints might come loose. They had marched relentlessly non-stop through the jungle all day and well into the night. The whole march had a heavy air about it that Zero could not quite describe but did not feel as though it was good. The quick pace they traveled seemed urgent. Col Sir had not even bothered to make the funny looking house-thing made out of cloth tonight. He didn’t even leave the top of the giant giraffe he was riding in after they finally stopped for the night. 

That giraffe puzzled Zero. Zero assumed Col Sir must be controlling it somehow like the four other automatons controlled the rest of the robot army. But unlike the drones, the giraffe gave off no feelings of “likeness”. When Zero stilled his mind and listened with his core, he felt no response from the towering metal beast. He supposed that was for the best that it wasn’t alive like him and the others. It had to march through the jungle carrying Col Sir in its head. Zero did not think he would like someone riding inside his head. 

Dun turned its head towards Zero and blinked “I feel like my energy low, getting hard to continue forward…we walk so very long!”

Zero nodded his head in response. “Yes that walk was longer than day before. I wonder why Col Sir no stop or put up the cloth house?”

Dun looked around at the assembled group of automatons standing in rows close to the giant metal giraffe. “I am not sure but I feel like things are about to happen.” Dun pointed with one of its skeleton-like arms “look, the important four other-us have their arms around each other.” “I feel something like fear…they are in fear even as they sleep.”

Zero looked at the four automatons who had been leading them through the remote control signals. They were all huddled clinging to each other in a hug as they slept. Even though they were offline in stasis he could feel the “afraid” or something very nearly like it. Zero turned back to Dun and blinked “we protect them too, they afraid, we protect.”

Dun nodded its head in agreement. 

They had gone into stasis not long after their conversation. Suddenly they were awoken at what seemed like only minutes later to the remote control snapping them to attention. In truth it had been four hours that had passed but there was an orange glow in the sky ahead of them. It must be the sunrise.

But it wasn’t really sunrise. As Zero’s photoreceptors focused more he realized the orange glow was moving and spreading as it came closer. The orange glow was because the tree tops in the distance, directly in front of them, were on fire! 

The remote control signal made the entire drone unit turn to the left and start moving fast through the jungle. They were moving faster than the march the day before. Now they were running.

Col Sir’s giraffe led the way as the whole army started to run towards the west, parallel to the fast approaching flames. In the urgency of the moment the four commanding automatons forgot to use the private channel for their wordless conversation that now broadcast through the air.

“Rabbit! Jon! Hatchy! Col Walter says for us to use the remotes and have the drones run with us following him! He says there is a bend in a river nearby to the west that we might be able to cross and avoid the fire! Quick! Move Quick!”

“Spine, why is the jungle burning?! I don’t like this!

“I don’t know Rabbit.”

“I bet it was that Becile fellow”

“It was…It was Becile”

“I think you’re right Jon…Yes…Col Walter just sent a new message…he thinks Becile set this fire to try to stop us from reaching him.”

“He must be nearby then!!”

“Maybe…stay on the look-out!”

“Those flames are moving fast…it’s gaining on us!”

“RUN…WE NEED TO RUN!!! KEEP THE DRONES RUNNING TOO…WE NEED TO MAKE IT TO SAFETY!!!”

“Shouldn’t we release them from the remote?!!!…We agreed..!!”

“No this is not the time!…We aren’t at the battle just yet and I’m not even sure the Drones were programmed to understand what fire is or what it can destroy…we’ve got to get them out of this!!”

“The fire…it’s even closer…Pappy! We can’t let the fire can’t get to Pappy!!”

“He’s far enough ahead...he’ll make it to the river first…we are almost there, we’re getting closer!!”

“It’s hot…my internal gauge is reading high thermal temperatures..I…I can feel the fire right behind us!”

Zero could feel the heat as the jungle behind them lit up in a frightening glow and black smoke filled the sky above that had just started to turn blue from the actual sunrise. Zero looked back and saw that some of the drones weren’t moving as fast and keeping up with the group. A few had even fallen. The long and fast paced marching they endured the day before and well into the night had damaged joints and loosened connections in a few of the drones. Zero didn’t know it but those drones had been hastily assembled by some of the Cavalcadium apprentices in an effort to get as many automatons built as quickly as possible for the impending war. 

Zero felt something like fear and urgency. He had to help those other drones but he couldn’t. Zero fought against the control. HAVE…TO…HELP…THEM… but it was no use. One drone, who was the first to fall, had struggled to get back up and move but it was no use. Zero watched in horror as the flames swept over the drone who was a distance behind them. 

It wasn’t exactly like a scream but it was all the same as one. No organic being would have heard it, but the beings who had been birthed from blue matter all heard it and felt it. It was a scream from the fallen drone’s very being. A scream coming from it’s very blue matter as it burned. Even the four commander automatons had snapped their heads back in horror because they heard and felt it too…The loud scream of a dying automaton…then there was nothing. 

Oil started to drip from one of Zero’s photoreceptors. He hoped this didn’t mean he too was about to break down and be eaten by this hot glowing …THING...that was chasing them. He looked over at Dunn who had started to slow.

“Dun..don’t…don’t stop running…!!”

“Zero..I..I…I can’t…something in my leg… something wrong…I’m losing control!”

Something snapped and pinged in Dun’s leg and suddenly the main hydraulic line snapped causing him to lose power to the limb. Dun’s leg gave out mid stride and the drone stumbled but managed not to fall completely. It tried to run again but the best it could do was drag the now inoperable leg.

As Zero’s body continued to run forward he saw Dun getting farther and farther behind the group as the fire moved closer and closer. Zero let out a silent howl of fear and frustration from his very core as he tried to fight the remote’s control. “NO!!!...DUN!!!”

The Jon’s head snapped back and he looked directly at Zero. Jon sent a quick message over the air to his brothers. “Brothers!!...we have to release the drones!! We have to do it now!!!” 

The Spine looked at The Jon. “Agreed!...Drop the signal…DROP IT NOW!”

Zero lurched as he felt the remote control signal shut off and control of his body restored back to him. Zero didn’t even take a moment to decide what to do it. He turned back and ran straight for Dun. The fire was very close behind as Zero ran over to Dun and hoisted the drone over one shoulder. 

He started to turn to run back when he looked over and saw another fallen drone nearby. The drone was looking directly at him with its arm extended toward him. There was a pleading in its photoreceptors. Zero didn’t hesitate. He ran over and hoisted this drone over his other shoulder. Then he saw another fallen one…and then another. Zero hoisted those two drones under each arm and looked around. There were still others who had in some way become unable to run or immobile, but he had no way of carrying them! How could he save them?!!

Suddenly through the haze of smoke Zero saw the four Commanders running towards the other fallen drones. By now the fire was so close that the soot had started to accumulate on Zero’s metal plating.

Each of the four commanders grabbed a fallen drone and hoisted them over their shoulders or carried them under their arms. Fortunately there weren’t any more fallen drones left after they each had picked up one or more. As a group they ran back towards the rest of the drone units and Col. Walter whose giraffe had started to wade into the river. 

Fortunately the river was not very deep but it was wide. Col Walter thanked the last of his lucky stars for that. Just on the other side was a horse shoe bend in the river that would protect them and create a fire break. Col Walter leaned over and spoke into the microphone of the machine that would translate his message into morse code and send it directly to his automaton son’s receptors. “Ok boys, we’re going to cross this river, I want you to direct the drones to follow in our path and not deviate. We will regroup on the other side.” There was no response from any of the Walter automatons. “…Boys…are you reading me?...was that direction clear?” Col Walter sent. Finally a short reply came back from Rabbit, “ok Pappy.” Col Walter thought it odd that The Spine wasn’t the one to answer as he usually took charge but didn’t have time to think about that at the moment. He hoped everything was going ok behind him. Why, oh why didn’t he install some sort of mirror so he could see what was going on directly behind him!?

Col Walter’s giraffe was a few feet from the shore now but the drone units stood at the edge of the river confused. They looked at the river and the giraffe Col Walter was riding and saw part of its legs disappearing in this funny moving shiny-ground. A few of the drones had tried to follow but were immediately alarmed when their feet disappeared under the water. As the four automaton brothers and Zero neared them they turned and stared.

“We got to cross the river,” the Spine said addressing the Drones out loud. 

The drones looked at the river and turned back to stare at the Spine.

“The river…you have to cross it…IT’S RIGHT THERE!!” The Spine yelled starting to lose patience as the fire got closer and closer. Just then Col Walter’s message came over the air and was picked up by their receptors but they didn’t have time to answer right now.

The Spine looked to his brothers and said, “it’s no use, we have to turn the remote back on.”

“No brother Spine,” said Hatchy stepping slightly forward. “Pappy only gave them limited understanding, how would you feel if someone urged you to walk through a wide black shiny substance you were not familiar with and your feet disappeared…we have to show them the way.” With that Hatchy walked past the entire group and stepped into the water and then stepped out again. “See, brothers…it’s ok.” 

The drones looked down at Hatchy’s feet and then at each other. The Jon walked forward as well, “follow us, we promise it’s safe…it’s gonna be ok…follow us.” The Jon and Hatchworth stepped into the river and started to slowly walk towards the other shore, periodically stopping and turning to show the Drones that it was ok. Slowly but surely the drones started to file into the river behind them and follow them towards the other side. 

The Spine had decided to go behind the drone units and try to usher them into the river from behind. Another message came from Col Walter.

“Don’t worry, I got it” called Rabbit as he sent a quick response.

By the time the last automaton had entered the river and was but a few feet from shore, the fire reached the bank and went no further. A few embers drifted over the river but sizzled out as it reached wet metal.

At last they were all on the other side of the river safe from the fire. Zero, The Spine, Rabbit, The Jon, and Hatchy all laid their fallen drone brothers carefully on the ground near the bank. Zero got on his knees and hugged Dun like he had seen the four Walter Automatons do. He was so happy he had been able to save Dun and didn’t want to let Dun go.

The Spine looked on and opened his mouth to say something as he heard running footsteps approaching.

“Boys! You finally made it across!…Why did you go silent…wh…what’s happened here!” cried Col Walter.

The Spine turned his attention away from the injured drones and replied “some of the automatons were injured…I mean damaged and couldn’t move fast enough to escape the fire, Sir…we…we had to help them.”

Col Walter looked at the pile of damaged automatons and then looked around at the rest of the drones milling about. “Boys, I’m not going to say what you did was a bad thing, but these drones were built to be sacrificed. You should have left the damaged ones behind and moved the rest of the army across the river immediately instead of letting the damaged ones slow the whole group down! You never risk losing all to save a few! I left Delilah not long after I got to the other side of the river. I saw how far behind you boys and the whole army had gotten and how close you were all to being consumed by that fire! Why did you risk it for these drones?! They are nothing! How many times do I have to tell you that?! They are not living like you four! They’re just junk bots built to be sacrificed! I could have lost you boys, and for what?! Nothing!!”

With that, The Jon and Rabbit stomped away angrily pouring steam from their vents and went to stand near the far edge of the horseshoe shaped river bank as far away from Col Walter as they could get. 

Col Walter looked on as they stomped away in anger. He looked at the Spine who was standing staring at him with a cold look and his mouth set in a grimace. “What are they upset about?! …We’ve been over this again and again…you boys are living!...these (the Col waved his hand loosely at the drone) are just things…they feel nothing…they were meant to be disposable if need be!”

With that The Spine turned and also angrily stomped away.

Col Walter turned and looked at Hatchy who continued to stand looking at him with an indiscernible expression. “What…what did I say??!”

Hatchy calmly opened his mouth and replied “Pappy, the very fact that you don’t understand why what you said would upset us; IS what upsets us. Not so very long ago people would have said a similar thing about Iris and other people like her. Think on that.” With that, Hatchy turned and walked away to join his three brothers.

Col Walter stood there on the bank with an uncontrolled army of drone robots milling about, a pile of damaged robots, which he had noticed one of the functioning drones had latched onto one of the damaged drones and seemed to have no intent of letting go, and four automaton sons who were now angry at him. He didn’t understand why they were mad but he had a feeling they wouldn’t be talking to him for a while.

Col Walter sighed. “Oh well, might as well start fixing these damaged drones,” he said aloud to no one as he headed to Delilah for his tool kit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has been following the story. I am planning on finally having Col Walter and his army encounter Becile face to face in the next chapter. Stay tuned!


	8. Green Heart of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of the fire and into the (figurative) inferno. And Becile is nucking futs.

Becile had almost grown bored of his current task. He had found an encampment of some of the refugees from a few of the villages he had destroyed a week ago…or was that a few days ago? His grasp of time seemed to be slipping. The days bled together. But never mind that! He had work to do!

The small refugee camp was mostly made up of the elderly, women, children, and people who were otherwise disabled. They hadn't been able to reach the safety of the coast yet as they couldn't travel very fast.

A small voice in the back of Becile's mind whispered to him that he should let them go. "Don't harm them" it said, "they've done nothing to deserve this." That small voice seemed vaguely familiar, like a person he used to know...or was that a person he used to be?

But that voice was quickly replaced by a much louder voice…a much more intelligent and reasonable voice...the voice who told him all he needed to know and had been guiding him for quite a while now. "Those people aren't innocent" it said, "look at them, they want to keep you from the green matter...YOUR green matter…PUNISH THEM." And so he had. 

He punished them until there was only an old man and an old woman left. "Please," the old man begged, "spare my wife, she doesn't deserve this, take me instead!" Becile took them both. Well, that is he would have taken them for his army but he decided they both looked too weak as they lay there broken and unmoving in the dust. No, he would take only the strong, the fit, and the young to pilot his elephants...to be his army! 

After stamping out what was left of the refugee camp, Becile sighed. Everything was empty. His heart was empty without Delilah... Delilah… Soon, he thought, soon…

Becile turned his elephants away from the shattered remains of the camp and looked toward the direction he knew the coast to be. A smile cracked across his lips as he could see the black smoke rising. He had sent some scouts in one of his smaller elephants to the edge of the jungle some time back...days ago maybe? Was it a week? Becile shook his head. It didn't really matter so long as they had gotten the job done and it certainly looked like they had. 

He knew his former friend and rival Peter would be foolish enough to come here and try to stop him. Peter A. Walter always was the hypocrite! He had loved her too! Well, Peter had said he loved her, but he certainly didn't try hard enough to save her! Not like he had! Not even after she had passed did he try to save her! Becile didn’t give up. He didn’t let her death stand in his way!

Peter had dared to call him crazy! Peter was the one who was crazy for not daring to use his science to try to save her! He had seen it as fit to allow her to rot away in the ground. 

Well HE couldn't do that! Now he needed more green matter! HOW DARE PETER TRY TO STOP HIM!!! Becile gripped the controls of his giant copper elephant so hard that the skin on his knuckles started to crack. It escaped his notice that his blood that seeped out of the cracks in his skin had started to take on a greenish hue.

Becile's attention returned to the smoke. Peter couldn't have survived the burning of the jungle, and if he had, Becile would make sure he regretted it every second of what would be the very short rest of his life. Becile laughed to himself and put his copper elephant in gear. The other copper elephants fell in behind him as they loped off slowly toward the pillar of smoke miles in the distance.

The sun was fully in the late morning sky by the time Col Walter put down the wrench and wiped the sweat from his forehead (unfortunately dragging a smear of black grease across it). He had completed the repairs on the last of the drones that had suffered a malfunction during their fleeing from the jungle fire. He would have been done much sooner but it had taken some time for him to pry Prototype Zero off of drone unit D-42. In the end he had to flip the power button on Prototype Zero's neck and shut him down just so he could peel him off the other drone. If Prototype Zero made it through this war, he was going to have to majorly look into his programming. He must have messed up an algorithm here or there. Peeling Prototype Zero off the other drone would have also taken less time if he could have had one of his automaton sons help him. He had forgotten how solidly built and heavy Prototype Zero was. Unfortunately, none of his four sons were currently talking to him and remained clustered together as far away from him as they could get on the horseshoe shaped shoreline. 

Colonel Peter A. Walter had royally messed up. As he had worked on the broken drones, the adrenaline had gradually left his system and he started to think about what he had said his four sons in the heat of the moment. Of course it had upset them! Why was he so stupid sometimes?! His automaton sons were still children after all! Here he had brought them to a strange land with an army full of metal beings that looked similar to them and even ran on the same power source. Yes, he knew they weren't the same. The drones weren't living, but he shouldn't expect his boys to understand that. It was understandable they thought these things were just like them. 

Peter was going to have to apologize, somehow. Peter gathered up his tools and put them back in the tool bag. He looked over at the drones. Great now D-42 was latched onto the still shut down Prototype Zero. Peter dragged a hand down his face, smearing still more grease. Maybe he had messed up the algorithms in more than one drone. He had been in such a hurry. He was starting to get the sinking feeling that this war was going to a disaster. Peter headed back to his giant giraffe and put away his tools.

On the river bank his four automaton sons stood, still steaming and having a silent conversation.

“He’s pig headed, I’ve heard Miss Iris refer to him as being one several times,” sent The Spine.

“Well pig headed he might be but it don’t make what he said right,” sent Rabbit, “he might as well called US junk bots!”

“For such a smart man, our Pappy can be pretty stupid,” sent Hatchy.

“Not stupid, but oblivious,” sent The Jon, “he’ll eventually understand and make it right…and so will future Walters.”

The Jon’s three brothers leaned and looked at him with skeptical looks.

“How can you even say that,” said Rabbit, “aren’t you even mad about what he said...how he’s treating our…our…siblings?!”

“Well sure I am, but Pappy makes mistakes because he’s human,” said The Jon, “Rabbit, you of all robots should know that.”

Rabbit squinted his photoreceptors at The Jon, “wha…WHAT would I KNOW…what…what are you even TALKING ABOUT…what about The Spine and Hatchy?!”

The Jon’s face dropped for a moment, “…I wasn’t supposed to tell that yet.”

Now both Hatchy and the Spine were both staring at the Jon as well as Rabbit with incredulous looks.

The Jon looked sheepish for one moment but suddenly put on a big smile, “brothers, don’t worry…all will be ok in the end…trust me.”

“WHAT A BUNCH OF MALARKY!!” sent Rabbit. “I’m gett’n tired of your Svengali act there, Curly!”

“Now Rabbit, there’s no need to attack Jon,” sent The Spine, “you KNOW HOW HE IS…”

“Yeah well, that also doesn’t make it right…just because he got that void in his chest from that explosion!” sent Rabbit. “Where does The Jon get off acting all like he’s all-knowing…like he can see into the future or something?!”

“Oh, I can’t see the future,” sent The Jon.

“Well it’s good you’re being honest now Jon,” sent The Spine.

“No…but I do know things that will be.” sent The Jon.

“Yeah sure…and why is that, laughing boy?” sent Rabbit.

“My koi tells me…” sent The Jon.

“Now Jon…” The Spine sent before his signal was interrupted by one from Rabbit.

“OH AND I SUPPOSE THE KOI CAN SEE THE FUTURE…GIMME A BREAK!!” Sent Rabbit.

“No, that would be silly,” sent The Jon. “The blue matter tells her, and then she tells me.”

Rabbit threw his arms in the air as The Spine slapped one hand on his forehead.

“Yeah, and my glasses can see into the future too,” sent Hatchy. The three others turned and looked at Hatchy. “You know, because they’re infused with blue matter…and also because of my portal,” said Hatchy.

The Spine and Rabbit weren’t sure whether Hatchy was joking or not. It was always hard to tell with that robut. The Jon just smiled.

Rabbit was about to launch into another round of silent arguments when Col Walter walked up behind them.

They all turned to look at him. 

“Oh…hi Pappy…what do you want,” said Rabbit in a slightly unfriendly tone.

“Boys, I’ve come to apologize,” said Peter. “I was caught up in the moment and I didn’t really think about what I was saying, and what I said was insensitive. I understand you look at the drones as being like you and maybe they sorta are..., but you four are SPECIAL to me. I was worried about you four getting hurt OR WORSE. You boys are very dear to me.”

“But what about the others,” asked The Spine.

Peter looked over his shoulder at the drones, “they’re um...well...they’re special too, in their own way, but…well they were built to fight and you boys were not. I built you four to be musicians. You are precious to me. You are my sons. I know it is hard to understand, but please, I beg of you when we step into battle let the drones do the fighting. I want you boys to be safe!”

“Don’t you care if they get hurt??!” asked Rabbit.

Oh great. Peter supposed a bit of stretching the truth wouldn’t hurt. While the drones certainly weren’t at the same level as his living robot sons, they were still works of wonder and if he had a choice he would prefer none of them to get damaged. “No, of course not but we do have to stop Becile and I’m afraid the possibility of them getting hurt is VERY real.”

The four automatons looked at each other. Peter had no doubt they were debating his words silently to each other.

“Look, boys…after the war... I’ll make it right” said Peter. “I promise I’ll fix any damage and maybe see if I can upgrade the drones…if it is feasible.”

“…Feasible…Pappy?” Asked The Jon.

“Well…,” Peter took a gulp of air and continued, “Becile…well… I’ve been informed by the Dandy Candy Co. and the guides who have seen him and his army, say that his weapons are very formidable.” “Some of the drones may be damaged beyond my ability to repair.” Peter quickly added before the boys could argue, “BUT, those will be put in storage and maybe sometime in the future, with the help of the Cavalcadium, we can get them repaired as well.”

The Four automatons looked at each other, silently debating his words. The Spine spoke up for the group, “Ok Pappy, but please don’t refer to them as junk anymore.”

“I promise I won’t,” said Peter. “I want you boys to promise me that you will stay clear of most of the fighting and let the drones take care of it. I don’t know what I’d do if any of you were damaged and I couldn’t repair you.”

“Ok Pappy” the four robots said as one. Although, escaping Peter’s notice, the four robots each had a hand behind their back with their fingers crossed.

Around this same time many, miles away and near the coast, the group of guides had reached a village and given Peter’s message to Iris to the clerk at the telegraph office. Closer to Peter and his army, something large lurked.

The four automaton sons had more or less forgiven their pappy and had followed him back towards the army of drones. Peter reached down and flipped Prototype Zero’s power switch. “Ok boys, we have to continue our march. The map says the edge of the jungle is three miles in (points) that direction. Get your drone units ready and issue the command to follow me.”

No sooner had Peter sat behind the controls of Delilah when he heard a commotion outside.

“Pappy!!...it’s charging across the river…a metal elephant!!”

Peter’s blood momentarily ran cold. No…Becile couldn’t be this close already; could he? “Boys, I’m turning around, get the drones to fight it off, there may be more incoming!!” he sent over the air to them.

The copper elephant was bigger than a living elephant and had a faint green glow to it. It was also dingy with soot and ash from crashing through the burned jungle. It charged through the river and came straight at them. Before a single command could be issued, some of the drones the four automatons had saved from the fire and had recently been repaired, leapt into action and dove for the beast as it reached the shore. 

Prototype Zero’s startup sequence was just finishing as his photoreceptors came online to witness a frightful scene! A giant copper elephant was attacking and 5 drones were currently hurtling themselves at it. 

The elephant let out a monstrous trumpet that sounded more like a growl and swung its head to the side, sending one of the drones flying with its trunk. The other four scrambled onto the beast, hanging tight with sharp fingers or clamp-like hands. The drones engaged their weapons and were now attacking it with buzz saws and lasers. A few more drones had run forward and were ripping at the outer carapace of grimy copper.

Peter managed to turn his giant giraffe around and saw the scene unfolding. Good, the boys were sending the drones to do the fighting. They were going to stay good to their word.

The elephant thrashed around and threw a couple drones free, who immediately clambered back onto the beast. Zero shot to his feet and ran forward at the Elephant. A few of the drones had managed to pull pieces of outer shell away and what Zero’s photoreceptors saw inside sickened him but he continued on his path with increased speed. The four Walter automaton sons were starting to head into the fray with the impact occurred. Zero hit the beast with the force of a locomotive causing a shockwave. The sound of the impact was almost deafening. The beast split nearly in two. 

Prototype Zero was unhurt but stunned a bit from the impact. He got up and shook his head as he heard a deep voice yell “STAND BACK!”

At once Zero and the other drones immediately retreated from the downed elephant that was now laying on the banks like a cracked rotten egg. An arch of electricity shot through the air hitting the downed elephant, frying the motor and gears and mercifully killing everything else that was inside.

“WELL DONE BOYS!!” came the message from Col. Walter from atop his giraffe. The Spine let his arm drop to the side while the exposed tesla coil still sparked and snapped. They all stared at the now smoking remains of the elephant and what had been inside.

“Pa…Pappy…was that…PEOPLE?!” came the message from Rabbit over the radio transmission. Peter hesitated a moment before responding. “They had once been…but…but you have set them free from the horrible nightmare…things… Becile had mutated them into. It was a mercy what you did… THIS is why we must stop Becile.”

The four Walter automatons as well as the drones stood staring at the carnage.

The horror of the situation truly sunk into the four Walter automatons understanding and hardened their resolve, although not quite in the way Peter Walter would have liked.

“C’mon boys, we need to take our drone army and get to Becile as soon as we can and stop him.

“Yes…Sir.”

 

Becile was getting close to the smoldering remains of the jungle. No one could stop him now. Becile cackled to himself until the very moment he caught the glimmer of metal in the distance. From out of the ashes emerged a giant metal giraffe and behind it, wave upon waves of metal men. “CURSES!!!! DAMN YOU PETER A. WALTER!!!” cried Becile as he and his copper elephant army started charging in their direction. In return the Giant giraffe and its army of robots began to charge in his directions. It was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept my promise and Peter and his army have finally come (sorta) face to face with Becile in this chapter. The war will be getting into full swing in the next chapter. I usually don't update as often as I have lately for this story. I was just inspired and kept writing. Well, also it's because I'm having a bit of writers block with my other series "Story Time with Rabbit" (please check it out). I do have a fourth story for that series in the works, but I'm a bit stuck. Hopefully I'll work through it and update soon(ish).
> 
> Also, if you caught the part where The Jon mentions Peter making mistakes and indicates that Rabbit, of all robots, should be aware of that, it's because I'm setting up Rabbits transition for future chapters (to follow the SPG lore and comic "Red Core"). 
> 
> (edit, forgot a note about Becile). BECILE IS NUTS. But I'm basing it off my theory that Becile is not himself evil but the influence of his green matter exposure is what's turning him into a homicidal maniac. I remember somewhere SPG mentioning the nature of the different matters and that green was something like paranormal, horror, nightmares, bad things. The green matter is possessing him. My theory (which I'm not sure if I will cover in this series) is that the origin of green matter is from the dark star mentioned in the Vice Quadrant (or possibly the whole galaxy that once circled it. When it was destroyed some pieces of it became meteorites and landed on planets in the nearest galaxy...more particularly, Earth. Green matter can be found on earth and mined but it's not really a naturally occurring matter for Earth and the evil entity of the Dark Star is using it to influence those exposed to it. DUH, DUH, DUUNNNNN. 
> 
> I hope you've been enjoying this series so far. I've been enjoying writing it. :)


	9. Band of Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle to stop Becile begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts with a little bit of backtracking. I decided to start it by showing the attack of the copper elephant scout (and it's defeat) through Zero's POV. This chapter was originally going to be longer but I felt that it needed to end where I have ended it. I have already started the next chapter and hopefully will have it posted soon. This chapter gets a bit brutal. I apologize in advance.

As soon as Zero’s processor had come back online his systems immediately registered something was wrong, VERY wrong. His photoreceptors focused on a large metal beast that was charging toward Col Sir and the automatons from across the river. As his programming identified it as “Copper Elephant: Becile’s Army, Enemy, Danger, DESTROY”, many of his drone siblings, including Dun, had charged to attack. The drones had managed to keep the copper elephant from getting any further. They were now piling on top of it, attacking it in every way they could, but every time the beast bucked or swung its massive truck drones were sent flying. Zero’s vision went red as a targeting site superimposed over his photoreceptor’s image of the giant metal beast. He was on his feet and charging at it, determined to bring the beast down, almost before he even consciously thought to do so. Half way to the copper elephant, some of his drone siblings had ripped free pieces of the outer plating revealing what was inside. There were beings inside the elephant that looked like humans, similar to COL Sir and Miss Iris, only they seemed to be melted into the very metal itself. Their skin was green and slimy looking. Their eyes were white and unseeing. These had been people but what they were now Zero didn’t know. If Zero had the definition, he would have understood that the feeling that washed over him was sickness. He momentarily felt like his boiler was going to spew out his throat assembly. It make him more determined to stop this horror from hurting anyone else, human or otherwise.

Zero slammed into the beast at full speed. The impact reverberated through Zero as he rebounded from the impact. The rebound threw back and to the ground. The elephant crashed to the ground as well, nearly splitting in two. Zero’s internal gyro stabilizers were spinning as he tried to recalibrate his equilibrium after the impact. He regained it just in time to hear the silver automaton commander yell for everyone to stand back. Zero jumped to his feet as he and the other drones ran clear of the wreckage. A moment later it was all over. The elephant and what was inside had been killed by the bright electrical arch that had come from the silver commander’s arm. There was nothing much left except for blackened smoldering remains, some metal, some not.

“Pa…Pappy…was that…PEOPLE?!”… Zero as well as all the other robots heard Rabbit’s message to Col Sir. The Colonel confirmed Rabbit’s suspicion and pressed upon them that this was why it was important to stop Becile. Col Sir had given the order for the army to march forward to find and stop Becile, but curiously, there was no tingling sensation followed by Zero losing control of his body. Col Sir had not noticed the army’s failure to move immediately to follow behind him as he started forward in his giraffe.

Zero heard a new message sent out, this time on a channel that only went out to the automatons. The message was coming from the Silver automaton, “brothers…we were given a choice to fight this war but you were not. We have all seen what evil is waiting for us and why it is important that we defeat it. We cannot let this happen to any more humans. We are giving you a choice. You can come with us and fight and stop this evil, or stay and not fight. We will not judge you. The decision is yours.” The drones looked around at each other. Zero looked toward Dun but neither blinked any messages to each other. They didn’t need to. It was almost as if all the drones were of one mind and had all silently come to the same decision. The drones all moved and formed their units and started following behind Col Sir’s giraffe, free from their remote control. They had made their choice.

As the units marched, Zero replayed the message that Rabbit had sent to Col Sir, “Pa…Pappy…was that…PEOPLE?!”…Pappy was what the copper automaton had referred to Col Sir as. Zero didn’t quite understand. He thought back and realized he had heard the four refer to Col Sir by this name several times. Did Col Sir have another name? What did it mean? Why did they call Col Sir “Pappy”? Zero checked his programming and found an entry for the word, “Pappy: adjective for male parent in a family relationship. Used by Walter Automatons to refer to Col Peter A. Walter, their creator. It is a term indicating love and respect.” 

Zero understood the meanings of “love” and “respect,” but wasn’t sure about the term “family.” Zero did another quick search of his processor, “Family: a group consisting of parent(s) and children who have a close bond. The Walter Automatons are Col Peter A. Walter’s family; PROTECT AT ALL COSTS. See also: Mother, Father, sister, brother.” The silver commander had referred to him and the other drones as “brothers”. If they were brothers, then that meant they were also “family,” and if they were family, then Col Sir was also Zero’s Pappy. 

Zero decided he would from now on refer to Col Sir, as “Pappy” too. Zero looked around at the legion of robots. Well, he certainly had a BIG family. The corners of Zero’s mouth curled up and for the first time he did a proper smile, even if he was unaware of it. 

Dun glanced over at Zero and blinked “why your mouth all funny?”

“What?...maybe I bent it from hitting elephant,” blinked Zero. “Dun, did you hear the copper one call Col Sir, Pappy?”

“Yes I did…do not fully understand,” blinked Dun.

“It mean we all family…he Pappy…we brothers…or sisters…maybe mothers…definition unclear but we all FAMILY,” blinked Zero.

Dun seemed to ponder this, or maybe the drone was just taking a moment to run through its own processor. “Family…yes we family”, blinked Dun. “I hear special-others refer to each other as brothers…maybe we brothers too.”

“Yeah…we brothers!” blinked Zero. 

“I like being family,” blinked Dun. Dun looked around at all the other drones. “They all brothers too…we have BIG family” blinked Dun.

“Yes, we do,” blinked Zero, “we protect them all.”

“Yes, protect all,” blinked Dun in reply.

Zero and Dun soon enough would learn how hard that would be. 

Across the ocean in the city of San Diego a delivery boy was knocking on the front door to a large mansion. The other staff were busy with other chores so Iris was going to have to answer the door herself. She thanked the heavens that she was only just beginning to show and could play it off as just having gained a little extra weight. 

She opened the door and the boy looked up at her and smiled, “telegram for Miss Iris Tonia.” Iris took the telegram from the boy and tipped him a penny. She looked at the telegram’s envelope and saw it was from Africa and tore it open at once. She quickly poured over the message, blinked, and then read it again. By all the Saints, Peter had asked her to marry him! He wasn’t going to remove her from service to hide their shame but instead he was going to MARRY her!! She felt faint. Iris had fell in love with Peter the very first time she saw him but she had never dared to believe they could be together, not as man and wife. The many months she had worked at the manor she had resigned herself to the fate that her love was one sided and that Peter’s heart forever belonged to Miss Delilah, even after death. Iris’s hands trembled as tears started to roll down her cheek. There were just too many emotions for her to process!

“Miss Iris, I’ve filled the coal bin and raked the lawn down by the pond, is there anything else…Miss Iris…?” It was the young man named Billy that had been hired to help. 

Iris hastily wiped her eyes and turned to face Billy. “No, that will be enough for now.” Iris looked down at the opened telegram in her hand, “but I will need you to deliver a message to the telegram office later.”

Peter steered Delilah over the burnt wasteland that had once been a lush jungle, now a smoldering victim of Becile. They were now getting very close to the Serengeti. He could actually see the beginning of it in the distance. The sun was high in the sky now. Peter squinted as the rays reflected off the glass front enclosure of Delilah. He pulled down his tinted goggles but he still saw glares of sunlight…no wait. That wasn’t glares on the glass screen in front of him! That was the distinct gleam of metal in the distance! 

Peter reached up and twisted the rims of his goggles that he had outfitted to also act as binoculars. Elephants! Copper elephants! It was Becile!! Peter reached for the microphone to the box that would translate and send his message out to his automaton sons. “Becile is directly ahead of us and heading this way. Boys, when we get close enough for engagement, I want you to send the drones into the red zone to engage the enemy. Becile may have more tricks up his sleeve so keep an eye out and be prepared!”

The four Walter Automaton Commanders received the message and looked to each other and nodded. They knew what they needed to do.

As each army rushed toward each other the drone units sped up as Col Walter in his giraffe dropped to the back. At first everything appeared to be going as he directed. The four drone units were rushing forward to engage Becile’s army of copper elephants with each of his automaton sons at the back of their formations giving orders…or so he thought, but before the units reached the opposing side he watched in horror as his four sons rushed forward through the middle of their units directly to the front! Col Walter lurched forward in shock grabbing his microphone, “BOYS!...BOYS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!…NO!!!…YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO HANG BACK AND COMMAND THE UNITS IN FRONT OF YOU…NO DON’T !!!” 

A reply crackled over the speaker. It was coming from The Spine, “Colonel Walter, we are in the red zone, we are in the red zone.”

The two armies collided with a sickening crash of metal. His boys had leaped forward onto a couple of the copper elephants while the drones were swarming the others. As the battle went on it was soon obvious to Col Walter that his sons were not giving commands to the drones. It was utter chaos. 

The swarming drones managed to take down many copper elephants, but also many drones had been taken out by being knocked through the air, gored by copper tusks, or simply crushed under heavy the feet of the copper elephants.

The Spine had just finished bringing down one of the elephants by electrocuting it so that its mechanics failed. He jumped to the ground from the fallen elephant as drones rushed forward to finish the job. He looked around at the scene before him. It was chaos. So many drones had been brought down, but so had many copper elephants. The elephants just seemed to keep coming! The ground was beginning to be saturated with hydraulic fluid and oil. A message came from his brother Hatchy, ” …*static*… copper elephants, there are too many, too many!” The Spine frowned as a nearby crushed drone caught his eye. It had a look of abject fear frozen on its face. Had they made a mistake letting their brother drones go free without commands? Did they leave them vulnerable by doing that? The drones were basically at the robotic equivalent to babies. What had they done? He couldn’t bear to see anymore hurt or worse. This HAD to end…but how?

Zero and Dun had been fighting back to back when he spotted several drones in trouble. They had been part of a group fighting another copper elephant. Unfortunately when one of the drones blasted the elephant with a cannon that had extended out of its back, it had caused the elephant to start to fall towards its side where the other drones were still too close to get out of the way. They would be crushed! Zero raced over and caught the beast just barely in time before it could crush the other drones. Zero hadn’t actually realized he was that strong! Unknown to Zero, Col Walter had not only built him solid like a tank but had also kept the advanced pneumatic array from one of the three prototypes he was built from. It more or less gave him astounding strength. Although, he was strong, he wasn’t so strong that he could hold the elephant up forever as his arms started to shake and he was finally forced to drop it after the last drone got out of its path. 

He turned toward Dun, about to mention his surprise at his own strength, when he saw something that, unbeknownst to him, would haunt him for years to come. A copper elephant had gotten close while they were distracted with saving the other drones. Dun had stopped to watch momentarily when Zero caught the falling elephant. The copper elephant approached unnoticed until it wrapped it’s trunk around Dun and lifted the drone off the ground. Dun clawed at its trunk with its sharp claw like fingers to no avail. The elephant was tightening its grip, crushing Dun. 

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Zero saw Dun snatched off the ground and the copper elephant start to crush his friend in two with its trunk. Zero’s processor did a quick calculation and there was no way for him to charge and reach the elephant in time before it squeezed Dun in two. Zero could hear the metal in Dun’s torso already bending as it was being crushed. Zero quickly raised his arm toward the elephant and his hand assembly unlatched and folded out of the way as a short spear tip took its place. He launched it, spearing the copper elephant through the head. Barbs on the side of the spear tip jutted out and latched into place. There were green sparks as the elephant started to jerk and convulse, but it did not loosen its grip on Dun. A thick chain now connected Zero to the elephant. Zero grabbed the chain with his other hand and pulled it with all his might. 

The elephant teetered for a brief moment before it began to fall. Everything seemed to slow down. As the elephant fell toward Zero, its trunk swung to the side with Dun still wrapped in it. Dun was now directly in the path of the falling elephant. The copper beast crashed to the ground with Dun beneath it. Zero stood there stunned for the span of what would be two beats of a human heart. Dun…

Zero ran over as the dust cleared. The elephant had landed on two thirds of Dun, crushing the drone and embedding most of the rest of the drone into the ground. Zero dropped to his knees reaching toward Dun with one shaking hand. He had failed to save his friend. He had promised to keep Dun safe! Zero’s other hand was still disengaged and connected to the elephant by his grappling chain. Zero could only see a little over half of Dun’s face as most of the rest was crushed into the earth. Dun’s head was turned to the side and the drone’s photoreceptors were still open but unlit and unseeing. Col Walter had not installed a proper voice assembly in his drones but what ripped out of Zero that moment could not be mistaken for the pained wail that it was. It seemed to echo across the battlefield. Oil poured, unnoticed, down Zero’s face plates.

A scuffling noise inside the copper elephant stirred Zero from his grief. Those things inside were still alive. Zero numbly stood back on his feet and faced the elephant. He retracted just enough chain before pulling his arm back and ripping a hole in the side of the downed elephant’s head. He could see those things inside. As he stepped forward and finished the job with his laser array he felt distant and like he was somehow far away watching someone else doing the actions his body was doing. Soon the hideous beings inside the elephant moved no more and neither did Zero. Zero fell to his knees. He didn’t want to fight anymore. So many of his brothers were gone, brothers he barely knew but had hoped so very much to. Now the one brother that Zero knew and…loved…was gone. Zero had failed to protect Dun and now his first and best friend was gone! Zero wanted to be gone too. He didn’t want to be in a world without his best friend. He didn’t want to be in a world without all his other fallen brothers; a world full of this violence and fighting. 

A copper elephant granted his wish for him almost as soon as it had went through his processor. As Zero stood there on his knees another copper elephant charged toward him and struck him with its trunk. Zero, being so heavily built, was not sent flying like the other drones. Instead it threw him several feet to his side. Bright sparks danced across his vision. One of the last things he registered in his processor was the elephant once again charging him. He did nothing to fight back. He saw its giant metal feet descending upon him…and then nothing. All went black.  
 


End file.
